Shredding the Past

I woke numerous times through the night with a dull beer headache. But with the passage of time its painful grip  diminished. However, it wasn't until I got up at 655a and took 4 Advil that I was able to rid myself of it entirely.  I laid back down until 715a. Mindy asked for a hug before I slipped downstairs to start my exercise regimen.

It was another cloudy start to a day. The deck was wet, but at least it wasn't raining at the time. I started coffee then completed sit-ups and push-ups. Checked the weather forecast next. It was 50 degrees. Expecting mostly cloudy skies with a chance of rain all day. Currently, however, the radar didn't show any immediate threat of rain.

Eiknarf was in bed with Jacob. I didn't bother going after her. I played around on the computer until 815a, or when I finally declared it time to run. When I left the house everyone else was still sleeping. I placed an envelope on the front door that contained the backflow meter inspection form for Mr Postle. I left a check inside too even though he said he'd bill me. I wore one layer and remained fairly comfortable. I ran just three miles, my typical Saturday/Sunday mileage.  Almost effortless.

Mindy was up when I returned home. Just below the envelope I left on the door, she left an OSU football card in a baggie for Tony & Noah to slip by and get. They were heading to some autograph session and offered to have one of Jacob's cards signed too.

I had been waiting on this day for a few months now. It was Shred-It day at the Schott, sponsored by NBC4. At the foot of the basement stairs I had four large paper boxes full of old bills, receipts, and paper work dating back to 1982 when Kelly and I got married. I'd been wanting to rid myself of this stuff  for years. Before the sweat was dry I headed to the basement and carried up the four large boxes, which I eventually carried out to the Honda. Mindy was planning on going to yoga around 1130a. I'd certainly be back by then. I grabbed my wallet and camera then headed upstairs to gargle with mouthwash before setting out.

The sun was out when I left the house. All of the sudden, it was a pretty spring morning. I headed east on Trabue to Riverside Dr then north to Lane ave. I took Lane all the way across to the Schott. Quite the crowd. I wasn't sure this was for me. Lots and lots of cars waiting to turn off Lane and into the Schott lot - three lanes worth. I did my best to remain patient. After going nowhere for the next five minutes we finally started to move. From there onward, they had things moving efficiently. I was directed to a parking lot where I was greeted by volunteers who helped off load and cart away my recyclables. They were very kind and offered me the opportunity to come watch it all be shredded. I took them up on the offer and followed. Most others went on their merry way.

I can't recall the name of the two volunteers, but the young girl looked like a TV reporter. Still in my smelly running clothes, they asked me if I had just completed the local half marathon. No, I replied. I shared a little about my selfish personal runs at home along with a little about my running streak. Watching my stuff being shredded was anticlimactic. Couldn't see much. All I could see was a guy dumping the boxes into a hopper that fed the monster machine. I took a couple photos.

Mindy & I met "shredder Matt' some years ago at Barley's. He made me aware of these twice a year Shred-It event a couple of times past. We hadn't seen Matt for over a year however, or ever since he got in a really bad car accident; and I believe that was after a Barley's outing. But as luck would have it, as I was walking away and  back towards my car, I happened upon Matt. I went up to say hello. Asked if I could take a photo with the two of us. He agreed and smiled big for the camera.

Speaking of cameras, I was approached by a TV reporter as I made my way back to the Honda asking if I would talk to them about the Shred-It event. I happily agreed. Makayla was the reporter and LJ was the camera man. Took them a while to get their gear ready. Makayla asked me to say a few things about the event and NBC4's involvement. I tried hamming it up best I could on the fly like that.  They seemed to enjoy my sense of humor.

I headed back to the Honda and eventually towards home. It was partly sunny and warming nicely, a real nice spring morning, and one that made for a lovely drive west on Lane avenue by the country club.

 At home, Mindy was playing on her laptop. Said the kids were still asleep. I ate a cheese stick then prepared myself for yard work. There were all sorts of things I hoped to get done in the yard, including transplanting the flowers I bought on Thursday into hanging baskets, mowing the lawn, and picking up some playground mulch for the tree house area.

I headed out back I'm guessing around 1030a. The first thing I did was transplant the geraniums & vinca into hanging baskets. While doing the transplanting, Mindy shared that she was unable to print her grocery list and her Zombezi Bay receipt. Showing the printer offline. I headed in to take a look. Happens every so often. I confirmed that the printer was active and available via our wireless network. Printed a test page from my own PC. Had Mindy reboot. Still showing offline. Discouraged, I asked if I could deal with it later. I wanted to get back on my yard chores.

I finished transplanting flowers then potted the hibiscus I bought on Friday. Mindy left for yoga sometime in there. The kids, meanwhile, were off playing with friends. I got busy mowing the lawn next taking the time to whack and edge , too. Paul Postle, the backflow guy showed up around 12-1230p. Did his work without bothering me. I stopped the mower long enough to say hello. He was there and gone in less than 15 minutes.

I cut the upper half of the back yard with the push mower, but got out the tractor for the back half (dryer half). Once again, the battery was weak, but I was able to get it started. I knew right then that I was gonna make a trip to Lowes to get a new battery that afternoon. I'd be doing the playground mulch and needed my tractor and trailer to get the job done reliably and efficiently.  I was also low on mower gas. I planned to stop for 5 gallons on the same trip.

After finishing the lawn, I headed in where I took care of Mindy's print issue. Ended up reloading the printer software on her laptop. That did the trick. Can't recall the time when Mindy returned from yoga. I asked if I had time to make a run for some mulch. I shared that I needed to stop at dad's to get the trailer, then head to Lowes for a new tractor battery, and then lastly get mulch and gas. Thought I'd be gone about an hour.

The sky clouded over about the time I left for dad's. While he and I worked on flipping the side gates around it started to rain. Just my luck! Not only did we flip the gates, but we checked the tire pressure, too. Both were sitting at 38lbs psi. We added enough air to get them both near 50lbs psi. Before leaving dad's I invited him to dinner with Mindy, the kids and I. Going to the Big Fat for Mother's Day at 630p. Dad declined the invite. Asked twice.

Headed to Lowes. Looked for their mower batteries but couldn't find them on my own. Had to ask for help. If they were a snake they would've bit me. I chose the middle grade battery. Its numbers were superior to the original, which incidentally, I left at home. Battery was $37, but they applied a $7 core charge too. Said I would get that back when I brought in my old one. OK.

Headed to Ohio Mulch on Roberts Rd next. Called Mindy along my way. Let her know that I was still about 30 minutes out. Said she was ready to head to the grocery and would likely ask Chrissy to keep an eye on the kids. 

Ohio Mulch wasn't that busy. Redesigned the place - bigger. Paid for 2 cubic yards of playground mulch - $25.99 (per cubic yard). The fella loaded one yard then shared that he didn't feel comfortable adding another. Wouldn't hold it. No problem. Said I could come back for the other. Said he'd remember me. However, with the skies threatening rain, I stopped dead in my tracks, turned around and asked if he would be in on Sunday provided I couldn't get it all moved that afternoon. Said he wouldn't - his day off - but then asked for a pen so he could indicate that they owe me a yard on my sales receipt. Good plan.

My last stop was Thornton's for mower gas. Bought nearly 4.5 gallons. Finally headed home. As planned, Mindy wasn't there. I thought about moving some mulch but the threat of rain was imminent.  I thought better of it. Instead, I covered it with a tarp and then spent a little more time pulling chickweed from the west side yard. After about 30 minutes of that I headed inside. I decided it as good as time as any to replace our drippy kitchen faucet. We had the new one for 3 or 4 weeks now.

I cleared the cabinet underneath the sink then quickly dismantled the old faucet. Took no more than ten minutes. Out easy. I spent a few minutes reviewing the directions for the replacement. While it looks almost identical on the outside, there were significant differences to the way it installed. Mindy got home from the grocery after I had just inserted the new faucet through the hole in the granite counter. She chuckled when she saw what I was working on. I complained that they failed to include an inventory list and some sort of parts identifier. That left me to guess what part they might be referring to in the instructions. Yikes! I might've tossed out an 'F' bomb or two. :( Good thing the kids were off playing.

Didn't take long to get the new faucet hooked up once I felt secure that I had the right parts in the right place. Actually installed quicker than the first version. Put it to the test. Worked flawlessly. No more drip, drip, drip.

Mindy asked about dinner. I told her that we had a 630p reservation at the Big Fat. She was happy about that. Meanwhile, the neighbors rented a limo to go in style to see Tim McGraw. Supposed to arrive around 545p. Like the year before, Chrissy planned to take all the kids to McDonalds in the limo and then drop her two off at Bill's house  (her father-in-laws). Our kids, of course, would be coming back home.

I showered while Mindy walked down to the see neighbors. I joined not too far behind. Mike and Julie, Guy & Missy were going with them to the show. Said they were sorry to learn that we weren't going. We opted out this year. Still enjoy their company though.

The limo showed on time and the kids and Chrissy soon left. We hung at her house waiting with the others. It was quickly 615p. I asked Mindy if she realized our reservation was at 630p. She did not. Thought it was 7p. Nope. She went outside and called the Big Fat to let alert them that we would be late. No worries.

Kids were back from their McDonald's trip at 630p. After some well-wishes we headed off to the Big Fat. Stopped and took a pic of the limo as we drove by. It was raining again.

At the Big Fat 5 minutes later. I dropped Mindy and the kids at the door then went to park the Honda. I joined them inside. They were just being guided to our table. No Katarina. She was at her own college graduation. Instead, Alex was our server. He's also very good and always attentive. Saturday was no exception.

We sat at a familiar table and were quickly served drinks and a complimentary appetizer - baked pita and an olive based dip. I enjoyed a Jack & Coke. Mindy, Jacob and I conspired to share our entrees, eventually settling on 2 orders of sea scallops and king crab legs. Bella ordered spaghetti. Mindy and I order salad's too. This marked the first time that any of us tried their king crab legs.

The scallops were delicious as usual, but all three of us agreed that the king crab legs were the absolute best ever. For starters, they came already split open as if done so with a band saw. There was a light garlic crust covering each, and the meat mouth watering and delicious. Wow. You'll have to try them! Jacob gave me two of his scallops for one of the large crab legs.

We couldn't finish our meals, not because we didn't like it, but because there was so much. We took home a few scallops and four crab legs. Sunday lunch? During dinner, I drank a 2nd Jack & Coke. Alex comp'd us a dessert - chocolate cake. I had one bite. It was terrific too. I picked up the check and tipped Alex well. Excellent meal.

We headed for home. It started raining again during our drive home. I'm thinking that it was near 830p when we arrived. Mindy suggested we watch a movie - Little Fockers. We checked Movies On-Demand. Yep, it was playing.  Once everyone got situated we let the movie roll - $4.95 for a 48 hour rental.

I won't give the movie away, but it was pretty good, funny, and worthy of your PPV dollars. During the movie I sipped a scotch (12 yr old Chivas Regal) and water on the rocks. It was pretty good. First time I've ever had one of those. Mindy and Bella headed for bed right after the movie. Jacob and I stayed up to watch the news and then Saturday Night Live. Jacob peeled off for bed after the news. I made it through the first fifteen minutes of Saturday Night Live, but could stay awake no more. Too tired. What's new? It was raining pretty hard when I headed up for bed.